This invention relates in general to a device for holding and dispensing napkins and more particularly to a napkin dispenser which is durable and economical.
The prior art is replete with a plurality of devices which essentially operate to hold and dispense paper items of all sorts and all types, including napkins. In fact, the prior art contains numerous patents regarding such devices which may be found in Class 206, sub-classes 45.15, 45.16, 45.13, 45.2 and in Class 221, sub-classes 59, 255, 279, 56 and 58 and in Class 312, sub-classes 61 and 71.
Essentially, an extremely popular device for dispensing napkins has been widely distributed and sold in this country under the trademark COMPACT and is manufactured by Marathon Products, a Division of American Can Company and which is distributed as Model No. H-1450. The product is an extremely successful product and is used in restaurants, hotels and households throughout the world. This product, based on its design and appearance, has acheived widespread use and success and is basically described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,206.
In any event, many such dispensers including the one described above are fabricated from metal and as such, after prolonged use and based on the environment in which they are used, will rust and present other sanitary problems which are inherent in the use of metal construction.
It is of course, apparent that apart from these factors is the further factor that such metal dispensers require greater time in fabrication in regard to the use of separate parts and separate screws, bolts and rivets in order to attach the various mechanisms together in regard to a common housing. It is thus apparent that many such dispensers are relatively expensive due to the use of metal parts which involve time consuming fabrication procedures employing relatively complicated mechanical structures.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved dispenser for napkins; which dispenser is fabricated entirely from plastic and as such, can be integrally molded and fabricated, thus avoiding the use of many mechanical parts and interconnections.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a plastic dispenser employing a secure latch to effectively couple the respective sections of the dispenser together during normal operation.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this disclosure.